Corruption trial: Adam Skelos laid out lobbyists’ views of upstate, downstate

In phone call, Skelos son laid out lobbyists' views of upstate, downstate

By Chris Bragg
Times Union
Sunday, November 29, 2015

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Corruption-trial-Adam-Skelos-laid-out-lobbyists-6664025.php

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Corruption trial: Adam Skelos laid out lobbyists’ views of upstate, downstate

In phone call, Skelos son laid out lobbyists' views of upstate, downstate

By Chris Bragg
Times Union
Sunday, November 29, 2015

Adam Skelos, the son of former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, believed he knew how things got done in Albany: Don't hire a New York City lobbyist to influence the Senate Republican majority, which was led by his father until earlier this year. It's friendships, familiarity and an upstate ZIP code that move the levers of power.

In typically unvarnished, profane fashion, the younger Skelos laid out those views of New York's lobbying industry in a phone call recorded in February – recently disclosed as part of the father and son's ongoing corruption trial in Lower Manhattan – and his view of how to influence upstate lawmakers.

"Some are from, you know, Binghamton area, I mean, Bumble (expletive) western (New York) – these people that get elected in their district, who are they more likely to talk to?" Adam Skelos said. "Like (New York City), you know, Ivy League brilliant geniuses – that's probably who they should talk to – or are they going to talk to the guy who's there every night having, you know, wine with them, bringing his wife along, you know what I mean?"

Several longtime lobbyists said there is truth in what Adam Skelos said about the importance of relationships in lobbying — as in any business — but that he unfairly demeans the policy chops and intelligence of upstate residents.

The Long Island-bred Adam Skelos himself jumped from high school to high school, but did earn a college degree from Hofstra in 2007. Since then, he often leaned upon his powerful father, who represents a Long Island district, to further his professional dealings, according to prosecutors.

"It is reflecting a kind of downstate arrogance that, in my experience, is common but unjustified," said Jeff Jones, who represents nonprofits, including a number of environmental groups. Jones said upstate lawmakers are less likely to care about academic credentials.

"That would be because they are farther away from Manhattan, and less likely to be enthralled by the notion of being at the Center of Everything," Jones said. "Of course a lawmaker is more likely to listen to someone who they know socially and trust as being closer to their experience than someone who comes in with a big credential expecting to be acknowledged."

The recorded Adam Skelos phone call was a discussion with Bjornulf White, the vice president of strategy and business development at Abtech Holdings, who also led an affiliated company, AEWS Engineering. Federal prosecutors allege that after Dean Skelos helped Adam land a consulting job with Abtech, the ex-majority leader helped push the company's business interests.

In the recorded phone call, Adam Skelos singles out one Albany lobbyist, Nick Barrella, managing partner of the Albany firm Capitol Group, as especially effective in lobbying Senate Republicans. According to Adam Skelos, that's because Barrella and Dean Skelos have condos near one another in Fort Myers, Fla., and their wives are "booze buddies, more or less."

"Nick is like the Republican senator go-to lobbyist because he's, he's like, you know, friendships are stronger," Adam Skelos said to White. "He had some big firm in New York City that has people with credentials out the ass, you know, Harvard graduates, Cornell graduates, and just, you know, people that you know have done their homework."

"So Nick is like the friend," Skelos added.

Barrella represented AEWS in late 2014 and early 2015, according to lobbying records, before the relationship was terminated by Barrella as the federal scrutiny of the Skeloses intensified.

Barrella, a graduate of Manhattan College, once held several high-level positions in state government and served the administrations of former Govs. Hugh Carey and Mario M. Cuomo, according to his online bio. He didn't return a request for comment.

Other Albany lobbyists known to have close relationships with the Senate Republican majority include Mike Avella, a former Senate Republican counsel, who also briefly represented AEWS; Ken Riddett, the former counsel to ex-Senate Republican leader Joseph L. Bruno; and Steven Harris and John Cordo, both of the firm Cordo & Co., and themselves lawyers and one-time Senate Republican staff.

"There is a kernel of truth to what Adam Skelos is saying, but as with much of what Adam Skelos says there is a lot of poor judgment and inaccurate views," said one Democratic lobbyist "These guys are smart lawyers."

In fact, according to Cordo's online bio, he is not only a longtime Albany resident, but does have the Ivy League pedigree Adam Skelos seems to have viewed as important – holding dual degrees from Cornell and Cornell Law, according to his online bio.

It's not just top Senate Republicans that have had close friendships with lobbyists. Avella, the lobbyist close to the Senate GOP, is business partners with Brian Meara, a cooperating witness in the Silver case. He is known to be very close with the ex-speaker and testified that years ago he would drink beer, eat kosher pizza and watch sports with Silver at the ex-speaker's Albany hotel, which had cable. The two reportedly knew each other from their days working in Manhattan court in the 1970s.

In the wiretapped phone call, Adam Skelos notes that Meara was one of the reasons that he wanted Avella to push Abtech's business interests (through Avella's firm was actually hired to represent AEWS by Barrella's Capitol Group.)

"One, he's great at drafting legislative proposals," Skelos said of Avella. "And, two, his partner, Brian Meara. Brian Meara was like the Democrat of the Republican group, right? So he had like all that support for Shelly Silver."

Indeed, lobbyists say, those who live in Albany full time can build closer relationships not just with lawmakers, but legislative or agency staff more likely to live in Albany outside the six-month legislative session.

"Large New York City-based firms are typically hiring the best and the brightest from the best law schools," said one longtime Albany lobbyist. " These are smart people, but they might not be the best people to connect with legislators and staff – especially legislators and staff who are more concerned with what's happening in Mechanicville than in Manhattan."